The US study, published in the scientific journal Cell, detailed an experiment done on mice and human cells where the animals were subjected to a four day fasting diet known as the fasting-mimicking diet (FMD), emulating a typical human vegan diet ranging from 800-1000 calories a day. After the course of these four days, the mice were allowed to revert to their normal diet for the next twenty-five days before being examined for any effects.

There is currently no cure for type 1 diabetes. Therefore, the research has caused much excitement on finding a new way to combat and possibly cure the disease. Before the study, the only way to produce a similar effect in the pancreas was stem cell transplantation, as beta cells generally do not regenerate. Thus, a new door has opened—one that involves a specialized diet—on combating one of the world’s most common and lethal diseases.

Despite the substantial success that FMD caused in mice and human cells, the study’s co-author, Dr. Valter Longo from USC warned against trying something similar at home. “This should not be done at home with self-made diets and should be done under medical supervision,” he said. The next step forward would be to experimentally try the diet on humans, but researchers aren’t there yet.